| Associated
Press January 8, 2007 KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia SINGAPORE'S high-end property prices may rise by as much as 10 percent this year amid consistent investments by overseas funds and expatriate workers, the chief executive of Southeast Asia's biggest property company said Monday, Jan 8. "2007 will be good year," CapitaLand Ltd. Chief Executive Liew Mun Leong told Dow Jones Newswires during a visit to Kuala Lumpur. Still, that's a slower growth rate than last year. Analysts estimate prices of Singapore's high-end property market, which traditionally attracts rich buyers from Asia and funds looking to invest in the real estate sector, rose between 20 percent and 30 percent in 2006. Liew said CapitaLand expects medium-end property prices in Singapore to rise by 5 percent compared to 2006, while high-end developments could see an increase of between 5 percent and 10 percent on year. Liew said the trend of prices rising is "cascading down" to the other price segments also, driven by rising demand from expatriate workers in the city-state as well as investment funds that buy property. However, the rise isn't creating a speculative bubble, Liew said. "I would say that a bubble develops if there is no demand. And when I say demand I'm talking about real demand," he said. "I think in Singapore the demand is still there," Liew said. "Because there is a lot of growth in expat housing. There are a lot of companies moving to Singapore and the reality is we need housing, whether it's (the) financial industry or manufacturing or other industry." |
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